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The
Trinity...Explained
(All
scripture quotes are from the NASB unless otherwise
noted)
The most
important step that we need to take in defending the
Trinity is to establish a good definition for the
doctrine that we believe in. Here is probably the best
definition that we have ever heard:
The
doctrine of the Trinity is simply that there is one
eternal being of God - indivisible, and infinite. Within
the one being that is God, there exists three co-equal,
co-eternal Persons... the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.
Before we
talk about what the Trinity is, let's first talk about
what the Trinity is NOT. To illustrate this, we have
included a diagram below that shows how the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit are expressed in the doctrine of the
Trinity.
As you can see by the
illustration above, Trinitarians do NOT believe
that the Father is the Son, the Son is the Father, the
Son is the Holy Spirit, or the Father is the Holy
Spirit. The term for that belief would be Modalism or
Oneness Pentecostalism (the belief that God manifests
Himself to us in 3 different modes). This is a very
common misunderstanding when the Trinity is discussed,
especially with groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Each Person is fully
God: If God is three Persons, does this mean that
each Person is "one-third" of God? Does the Trinity mean
that God is divided into three parts?
No, the Trinity does not
divide God into three parts. The Bible is very clear
that all three Persons are each one hundred percent
God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all fully
God. For example, it says of Jesus Christ that "in Him
all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily
form" (Colossians 2:9). We should not think of God like
a "pie", cut into three pieces, each piece representing
a Person. This would make each Person less than fully
God and thus not God at all. Rather, "the being of
each Person is equal to the whole being of God." The
divine essence of God is not something that is divided
between the three persons, but is fully in all three
persons without being divided into "parts".
Thus, the Son is not
one-third of the being of God, He is all of the
being of God. The Father is not one-third of the being
of God, He is all of the being of God, and
likewise with the Holy Spirit. When we speak of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together, we are not
speaking of any greater being than when we speak of the
Father alone, the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone.
Some groups, like the Jehovah's Witnesses speak of God
in a Unitarian sense. They limit God by saying that the
being of God can only be expressed in one person,
whereas we believe that the being of God is unlimited
and thus allows Him to be revealed to us in more than
one person, which is what the bible teaches.
There is nothing
wrong with using the term "Trinity" even though the word
is not found in the Bible, which is one of the arguments
of non-Trinitarians. If this presents a problem to you,
consider this: the word monotheism is not used in the
Bible either. Yet, we know this word to be the
expression of the fact that there is only ONE God. So
don't get hung up on the term "Trinity" itself. What
should be of real importance is that the concept that is
represented by the word "Trinity" does exist in
Scripture:
There is one God:
Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20;
1 Timothy 2:5.
The Trinity
consists of three Persons: Genesis 1:1; 1:26; 3:22;
11:7; Isaiah 6:8; 48:16; 61:1; Matthew 3:16-17; Matt
28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14. In the passages of the Old
Testament, a knowledge of Hebrew is helpful. In Genesis
1:1, the plural noun "Elohim" is used. In Genesis 1:26;
3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun for "us"
is used. The fact that "Elohim" and "us" refer to more
than two is WITHOUT question. In English, you only have
two forms, singular and plural. In Hebrew, you have
three forms: singular, dual, and plural. Dual is for
two ONLY. In Hebrew, the dual form is used for things
that come in pairs like eyes, ears, and hands. The word
"Elohim" and the pronoun "us" are plural forms -
definitely more than two - and could easily be referring
to the Tri-Unity of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
The members of the
Trinity are distinguished one from another in various
passages:
In the Old Testament,
"LORD" is distinguished from "Lord" (Genesis 19:24;
Hosea 1:4). The "LORD" has a "Son" (Psalm 2:7, 12;
Proverbs 30:2-4). Spirit is distinguished from the
"LORD" (Numbers 27:18) and from "God" (Psalm 51:10-12).
God the Son is distinguished from God the Father (Psalm
45:6-7; Hebrews 1:8-9). In the New Testament, John
14:16-17 is where Jesus speaks to Apostles about the
Father sending them another Helper, the
Holy Spirit. This shows that Jesus did not consider
Himself to be the Father or the Holy Spirit. Consider
also all of the other times in the Gospels where Jesus
speaks to the Father. Was He speaking to Himself? No, He
spoke to another person of the Trinity - the Father.
Each member of the
Trinity is God: The Father is God: John 6:27; Romans
1:7; 1 Peter 1:2. The Son is God: John 1:1, 14; Romans
9:5; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8, 10-12; 1 John 5:20;
Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1. The Holy Spirit is God: Job
33:4; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Hebrews 10:15-17
(The One who indwells us is the Holy Spirit - Romans
8:9; John 14:16-17; Acts 2:1-4).
The subordination
within the Trinity: Scripture shows that the Holy
Spirit is subordinate to the Father and the Son, and the
Son is subordinate to the Father. This is an internal
relationship, and does not deny the deity of any person
of the Trinity. This is simply an area which our finite
minds cannot understand concerning the infinite God.
Concerning the Son see: Luke 22:42; John 5:36; John
20:21; 1 John 4:14. Concerning the Holy Spirit see: John
14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7 and especially John 16:13-14.
Subordination does not equal a difference in nature.
Trinitarians have always agreed that the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit all take on different
roles when it comes to the plan of
salvation, but that does not mean that any one of the
three is better in nature than the other. A wife is
subordinate to her husband, but that does not mean she
is inferior to him in nature.
As you can see, the
Trinity is very biblical and is not beyond the
comprehension of man. God might be beyond comprehension,
but the Trinity certainly can be understood and
explained to others. We hope that this information has
been helpful to you, and gives you what you need to be
able to share and explain it to others.
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